Baptist Missionary Training School - Beacon Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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--ll THE BEAcoN iii CLASS HISTORY f f Y Oh, I'm so glad you have come back to spend a few minutes with me Z Alma Mater enthusiastically greets an alumna. Sit down here beside me, dear, and let us talk. It has been years since we have seen each other, and you must have much to tell me. You say you would rather I would do the talking ? Yes, of course. I forget that you want to know about some of your sisters who came to me after you had gone to your field. This year's class? Yes, I would be glad to tell you about it. Three short years ago thirteen girls entered my doors, representing eight different states. I was rather proud of them, thinking that they would graduate the year of my Fiftieth Anniversary. Miss Virgin was their advisor, that is she was Miss Virgin until the end of the year when she married and became Mrs. J. Noble White. That reminds me that three of the class followed her example that summer and fall. Three others left to take up other lines of study. They were a lively group and put on some most enjoyable parties that year. I shall never forget the party they gave to the Seniors. They arranged one of the unoccupied rooms on the third floor to represent a Dug-out, and after a slumber party together, served breakfast with coffee and doughnuts as the main part. And, oh yes, they entertained the whole school at the annual Hallowe'en party. Even the-august faculty were required to walk squeaky stairways and take hold of slimy things that night. It was a weird and spooky occasion. But I must not dwell too long on their Freshman year. It seemed to me that they were Juniors before I realized the fact. As I said before, six of my girls did not return for their Junior year, but the seven who did come back were joined by twelve new girls. I was proud of those nineteen girls and quite delighted in their individual contributions to the life of the school. They spent weeks in planning the banquet for the Seniors. They transformed our dining room into a Japanese garden that made us all gasp at its loveliness. They were in complete charge of the evening program on Founders' Day and inspired us with their pageant, The Soul's Awakening. It was Miss Tuller who served as their advisor that year. - Then came the third year and they were Seniors, with Miss Tuller con- tinuing as advisor. One of my girls who had entered with that first group and finished her Junior year did not return for the Senior year. Another, Dorothy Sangren, who had been president of the Junior class, was needed on a new field in Natick, Rhode Island. We missed her greatly, but the class voted to adopt her as its missionary, and in that way kept in close touch with her. With the addition of fourteen new girls to the seventeen remaining ones of the Junior group, there was a total of thirty-one in the Senior class. It was a thrilling sight to see that large group meet for the Hrst time in the old Senior room, which was scarcely large enough to accommodate them all. Two of the girls, Alma Schilke and Janet Byron, were with us for only one term. at the end of which, they left to go on their Helds. The class entertained them at a farewell party in December and were pleased to have as guest of honor, Miss De Clercq. It was not until one day in January, when Miss Brimson called a meeting of the class, that I realized that these girls were Seniors and would soon be leav- ing me. But I forgot to regret the parting in the next few months of joyous activities. fffontinued on page 46j I8

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C L A S S E S

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-1--1 THE BEACON ----- CLASS PROPI-IECY I was off somewhere in the Land of Unconsciousness. And I dreamed a dream-a weird dream. I was sitting on a lofty bank of clouds nervously pulling its silver lining to shreds. How could I help being nervous when a pallid, billowy apparition composed entirely of clouds had informed me in a vaporous voice that I was presently to view the future of the girls with whom I had struggled through Prophecy, Pageantry, and Public Speaking. As soon as the terror which this mysterious and unearthly creature had inspired within me diminished somewhat I begged to know the past also. There were several things I desired to know, such as, Where did Bessie get that picture? and Who borrowed my tooth brush? , but the ghastly one commanded me to be silent - and I was silent. Then there came a great clap of thunder and the cloudy monster disappeared. In his place there rose a giant structure resembling an elaborate stage, bearing the inscription Prophecy of the Class of 1931 upon it. I-I'm! I said to myself as I settled more comfortably into the clouds to watch the Pageant of the Prophesied. Sky-writing! First an orchestra appeared upon the stage and then to the din of an invisible but enthusiastic audience in stepped the conductor and at her signal the first strains of the new symphony, Imagine My Embarrassment struck my ears. As the mists cleared away I saw that the musicians were the Oysterhouse Ortho- phonic Orchestra, conducted by thedistinguished F. Warburton. Then Margaret Cuddeback stalked proudly by wearing an insignia of dis- tinction conferred upon her by the Japanese government for inventing a com- bined cherry-pitter and kimono-mender. She stopped to display her medal to Iva Gurley. who stood in the doorway of a fashionable church where she had been pastor's assistant for many years. This enterprising young woman held in her hand a book, the author of which was modest Laura Fish. Iva asked Margaret to stop in at the Fashion Show down the avenue where Bessie Gillies was modelling and give her the little volume, entitled Fish Stories, since it included an appendix on Boston Baked Beans Beat the Best in which the Girl from Awlington might be interested. As Margaret rounded the corner suddenly she bumped into Laura Voigt, who was wearing shoes a size larger since she married Martin. From Laura's appearance it would seem as if she didn't even think of poor dear Ivan any more. Then the scene shifted to that of a Paris street cabaret where I could see Ruth White and Marcia Cudworth passing out tracts among the merry-makers when a big black bear came into view. This trained bear had written a ten- thousand word M. A. thesis in five thousand words and had since been author- ized by Congress to reduce the dictionary to half its size. The face that peeked out from the bear's skin strongly resembled Mae I-Iunter's. Myrtle Rawson seemed to have received the Nobel prize for l950 for her painting of her boy's Sunday school class which was entitled, The Pills of the Church. Then I saw Winifred admonishing her little niece, Margaret, for using her auntie's powder puff. Winnie's time seems to be spent in training Margaret to become an ideal B. M. T. S.'er, while she is not engaged in con- ducting popular concerts. Next came a glimpse of the bakery shop which Elsie and Esther had opened in the Sahara Desert, using the burning sun instead of oven heat. Elsie wanted to trade-mark her pies Sun-Kissed but spared Esther's blushes and decided against it. Some time later I saw them on the stage playing the roles of Damon and Pythias, with the audience constantly exclaiming How realistic! fC'onlinued on page 472 19